Garoutte Tavern in Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey

[G.C.Johnson]

Hi everyone. I'm working a few days out of the week on my family history project. I was working on my Garoutte and Stokely bloodline for the last few months.

When I started doing some major research on my Garoutte bloodline I wrote a scholarly essay/article on my ancestor Michael Antoine Garoutte. As you may know in the genealogy world there is all kinds of errors and illogical mess in a lot of peoples family histories. I was shown how to do genealogy professionally by the NSDAR and NSSAR where you get all proofs of parentage and then analyze the legal documentation to figure things out about the ancestor. Well I exhausted all the documentation I could get about Garoutte online.

Long story short I rounded down that his Tavern The LaFayette must have been by the old Clark House in Historic Pleasant Mills.

I guess this is what the town looked like:

I guess the town is very haunted especially by the cemetery.. lots of reports of ghosts if you're into that sort of thing.

If you live in New Jersey and if anyone would care to make a trip down to Historic Pleasant Mills-Batsto town to get some records and to get a picture of the guys headstone that would be awesome.

Check out my essay: http://www.wikitree.org/wiki/Garoutte-128

All the references link to books that are online so you can read each page to see how I wrote the essay based on facts, documentation and publications about the ancestor.

It would be wonderful to get a portrait of the guy to put in my family history book if there is none I will have one commissioned.

I would also love to have a revolutionary war era officer flinlock pistol for my family history museum of artifacts.

 

[manumuskin]

I am on Ancestry.com and I just found tons of documentation on this guy and I found His Find A Grave website but that has no pic of the stone neither.I live an hour south of Batsto but may be headed up that way in a couple hours to take the dogs swimming.If I go I"ll give it a look real fast and I"ll take a camera. Thats a fairly old stone so it may not be legible.Many stones in that cemetery are made of bog iron though and the stuff does not rust or age so if he has an iron stone you may be in luck. If I don't get there today there are many folks on here closer then me.Maybe one will send you a pic.Meanwhile if your not on Ancestry and you want me to email documentation I can download to my computer I"d be glad too unless your sure you have everything.Something on here about a royal connection as well.

 

[G.C.Johnson]

I am on Ancestry.com and I just found tons of documentation on this guy and I found His Find A Grave website but that has no pic of the stone neither.I live an hour south of Batsto but may be headed up that way in a couple hours to take the dogs swimming.If I go I"ll give it a look real fast and I"ll take a camera. Thats a fairly old stone so it may not be legible.Many stones in that cemetery are made of bog iron though and the stuff does not rust or age so if he has an iron stone you may be in luck. If I don't get there today there are many folks on here closer then me.Maybe one will send you a pic.Meanwhile if your not on Ancestry and you want me to email documentation I can download to my computer I"d be glad too unless your sure you have everything.Something on here about a royal connection as well.

An

I am on Ancestry.com and I just found tons of documentation on this guy and I found His Find A Grave website but that has no pic of the stone neither.I live an hour south of Batsto but may be headed up that way in a couple hours to take the dogs swimming.If I go I"ll give it a look real fast and I"ll take a camera. Thats a fairly old stone so it may not be legible.Many stones in that cemetery are made of bog iron though and the stuff does not rust or age so if he has an iron stone you may be in luck. If I don't get there today there are many folks on here closer then me.Maybe one will send you a pic.Meanwhile if your not on Ancestry and you want me to email documentation I can download to my computer I"d be glad too unless your sure you have everything.Something on here about a royal connection as well.

I basically need pictures of the proof. We have all the references amd some pictures of the documents but no picture of the headstone yet. Thats what i really need. If you get a picture of it today i would be so grateful and i will owe you one.

Ancestry.com trees are not reliable. Only the hard proof is reliable.

I have no idea where his grave is in that cemetery. The abstract of graves of revolutionary patriots says he is buried there in the pleasant mills episcopal cemetery part of batsto. So you may need to look for a while.

My email is : garyceejohnson [at] yahoo.com

 

[pinelandpaddler]

The Wharton ledgers place Lafayatte Tavern on Indian Cabin Road. I have yet to look at the original source. Hopefully I'll do that in the near future.

 

[G.C.Johnson]

The Wharton ledgers place Lafayatte Tavern on Indian Cabin Road. I have yet to look at the original source. Hopefully I'll do that in the near future.

I saw that too. But we got to get a picture of the document.

 

[manumuskin]

I"m not speaking of family trees but of actual documents and pdf files where people have written his history.Might not be help documenting but inetersting reading none the less. I am leaving now for Batsto.will send you a pic if I find it and will start sending you documents probably tomorrow a few at a time.

 

[G.C.Johnson]

I"m not speaking of family trees but of actual documents and pdf files where people have written his history.Might not be help documenting but inetersting reading none the less. I am leaving now for Batsto.will send you a pic if I find it and will start sending you documents probably tomorrow a few at a time.

Thank you!

 

[manumuskin]

Bad News and Good news.The bad news is I didn't find it.By the time I got there I only had about a half hour to go over the whole graveyard quickly.I would need at least a couple hours.I wore sandals,bad move.The whol graveyard is landscaped with prickly Pear.My wife could here me howling across the graveyard. I"d say 70% of the older stones are not even inscribed or illegible.I need to go back on a dreary day with a strong flshlight and maybe some water to splash on the stones to bring out the faint names.The good news is on this find a grave site http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=157916768 They claim a descendant of garoutte is going out to take a pic of the stone so perhaps he knows where it is.If I see a pic I"ll go find it and send you exact coords so if you ever make it to jersey you can walk right to it.If This guy doesn't make good on the pic this summer next time I get a day in the barrens I"ll go back with a stong light for contrast.I also have just had a retina detachment so I"m almost blind in one eye while recovering.Sight is coming back slowly.I look like Popeye and have been squinting my bad left eye for two weeks now.I definitely can see better with both eyes working and would like to have had my wifes help who has better eyesight then I do anyway but she had to stay in the car with the dogs so they didn't howl like banshees. Hopefully this cousin of yours actually knows where the stone is,if not He has his job cut out.Many of the oldest barely legible stones were people that died about the same time as your ancestor.Most stones are tall,thin and that easily erodible sandstone that seems to be the stuff tombstones everywhere were made of back then.100 to 150 years later and their smooth as glass. If this guy doesn't come through i will go back better prepared with more time.Sorry about the failure.I"ll start sending some info to your email and hopefully you'll get something new.
Al

 

[manumuskin]

I did not find the stone.I need a strong light for contrast and more time.I ran over the whole graveyard but many of the stones are uninscribed or illegible. I wore sandals and paid dearly.The graveyard is landscaped in prickly pear.Very robust Prickly pear I might add.Momma heard me howling across the graveyard. The good news is yyou have a cousin going out this summer to look for the stone or perhaps they know where it is? See here. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=157916768 also the find a grave website claims you have the wrong cemetery and that he is buried in Estelleville which is closer to me. So someone is supposed to take a pic and I may have been at the wrong graveyard.If you like perhaps i can run to estelleville tomorrow and check? I have a lot of time right now,I am recuperating from a detached retina operation.Thats another handicap because my eyesight isn't the best right now.Two eyes really are better then one.If you think you may have made a mistake and estelleville is the place to look let me know.Meanwhile i'll start sending soem info i found on Ancestry.

 

[manumuskin]

I just located that graveyard.It's right down the street from Boyd.I know right where it's at,just didn't know the name of the church.

 

[manumuskin]

no doubt some of the stuff I sent you is repeats.Sometimes it's hard to remember one page from the next.Sift through it and see if anything there is something you might need.I may get to take a ride to the other cemetery tomorrow if you think thats the right place.He does appear to have spent time at batsto and married there.Don't know why he would have wound up in Estellville but it's possible.There are other iron furnaces down this way so maybe he just relocated to another operation.

 

[bobpbx]

Al, did you actually get prickly pear needles in your feet?

 

[G.C.Johnson]

Sorry you messed up your feet. Thanks going out there. I really hope to get a photograph of the headstones. I will take a look at what you sent me now.

 

[G.C.Johnson]

And yes another cousin agreed to go out there this summer. She told me she would on facebook but I would have it as soon as possible. I don't think she even knows where it is either. She will probably have to spend some time looking. Probably several hours. It took me and the head of the graveyard person here 2 hours to locate my grandmas headstone and we had the lot# down on paper so I know how long it takes. Will take even longer if the stones are worn down.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

I saw that too. But we got to get a picture of the document.

Indeed. What documents led you to conclude that the tavern was by the old Clark House?

 

[G.C.Johnson]

Indeed. What documents led you to conclude that the tavern was by the old Clark House?

Michael and Sophie inherited Sophie's Father's Inn in Pleasant Mills, New Jersey and they renamed it to Lafayette Tavern, the Tavern and Inn was on the road from Pleasant Mills to Indian Cabin; They also ran a Stage Line that ran from Joseph English's Ferry, Camden to Leads Point, opposite Bearmore's Beach which is the most convenient place at all times to pass to Long Beach, Tucker's Beach or Brigantine. The Service ran at 7:00 A.M. every morning and the fare was $2. [68] [69]

See this YouTube Video of Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey part of Batsto, New Jersey to get a good visualization of what it looked like in the 18th Century: Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey (Where Michael Garoutte lived and operated his Tavern: The LaFayette).

The Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey was a town that secretly provided Guns and Materials for the American Revolutionary War.

Michael additionally owned 50 acres of land and a cow and he paid Taxes from 1796 to 1812 in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. [70][71] which was about 22 miles away from Pleasant Mills, New Jersey.

Michael made 2 trips back to France, arriving in 1787 and again in 1793, [72] and possibly made another trip later. [73]

Iron In the Pines: The Story of New Jersey's Ghost Towns amd Bog Iron, Page Number: 204.

https://books.google.com/books?id=aV-zFhKjT0MC&pg=204#v=onepage&q&f=false

↑ Secondary Source (Publication): The Wharton Ledgers, Volume: 14, Page Number: 344 (Mentions Garoutte owning The LaFayette Tavern.

• Newspaper: Camden County Centennial, 1844 - 1944 Image Online Click Here

http://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/3/35/Garoutte-128-46.jpg

Iron in the pines says the tavern was by the elija clark house on the old pleasant mills tract. I posted the direct link to the book and page # in this post

 

[G.C.Johnson]

Michael and Sophie inherited Sophie's Father's Inn in Pleasant Mills, New Jersey and they renamed it to Lafayette Tavern, the Tavern and Inn was on the road from Pleasant Mills to Indian Cabin; They also ran a Stage Line that ran from Joseph English's Ferry, Camden to Leads Point, opposite Bearmore's Beach which is the most convenient place at all times to pass to Long Beach, Tucker's Beach or Brigantine. The Service ran at 7:00 A.M. every morning and the fare was $2. [68] [69]

See this YouTube Video of Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey part of Batsto, New Jersey to get a good visualization of what it looked like in the 18th Century: Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey (Where Michael Garoutte lived and operated his Tavern: The LaFayette).

The Historic Pleasant Mills, New Jersey was a town that secretly provided Guns and Materials for the American Revolutionary War.

Michael additionally owned 50 acres of land and a cow and he paid Taxes from 1796 to 1812 in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. [70][71] which was about 22 miles away from Pleasant Mills, New Jersey.

Michael made 2 trips back to France, arriving in 1787 and again in 1793, [72] and possibly made another trip later. [73]

Iron In the Pines: The Story of New Jersey's Ghost Towns amd Bog Iron, Page Number: 204.

https://books.google.com/books?id=aV-zFhKjT0MC&pg=204#v=onepage&q&f=false

↑ Secondary Source (Publication): The Wharton Ledgers, Volume: 14, Page Number: 344 (Mentions Garoutte owning The LaFayette Tavern.

• Newspaper: Camden County Centennial, 1844 - 1944 Image Online Click Here

http://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/3/35/Garoutte-128-46.jpg

Iron in the pines says the tavern was by the elija clark house on the old pleasant mills tract. I posted the direct link to the book and page # in this post

For more convenience I posted a screenshot of the page in the Iron In The Pines book that says garoutte owned and operated a tavern named The LaFayette on the pleasant mills tract by the elija clark house.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

"Michael and Sophie inherited Sophie's Father's Inn in Pleasant Mills, New Jersey and they renamed it to Lafayette Tavern.."

What is your source for this? FYI, the Wharton Ledgers do not mention Gaurotte by name. I'm going to the State archives today to view the entry in the ledgers. I'll report back later today.

 

[manumuskin]

Al, did you actually get prickly pear needles in your feet?

yes Bob.One I didn't notice or forgot about till I got home.when I pulled off my sandals it was imbedded in the side of my foot.I grabbed it thinking I could just yank it out.I yanked andI screamed.It hurt so bad I thought I was going to puke. I guess the spines are barbed.I had to get my wife to grab the spine with pliers and yank.God I screamed like a banshee.She looked at my sandals.I have a dozen spines imbedded in each sandal. If you pick a Paw Paw or a Prickly Pear and you prick a wrong paw next time beware. Don't pick the the pricly pear by the paw,when you pick a pear use the claw.But you don't need to use the claw when you pick a pear from the big Paw Paw!

 

[manumuskin]

Sorry you messed up your feet. Thanks going out there. I really hope to get a photograph of the headstones. I will take a look at what you sent me now.

I am headed to Este3llville in a few to look for the stone.it'll give me something to do. Maybe I"ll run into our newest Moderator!?